Note: Since any content that does not meet this Success Criterion can interfere with a user's ability to use the whole page, all content on the Web page (whether it is used to meet other Success Criteria or not) must meet this Success Criterion. See Conformance Requirement 5: Non-Interference.

Intent of this Success Criterion

The intent of this Success Criterion is to allow users to access the full content of a site without inducing seizures due to photosensitivity.

Individuals who have photosensitive seizure disorders can have a seizure triggered by content that flashes at certain frequencies for more than a few flashes. People are even more sensitive to red flashing than to other colors, so a special test is provided for saturated red flashing. These guidelines are based on guidelines for the broadcasting industry as adapted for computer screens, where content is viewed from a closer distance (using a larger angle of vision).

Flashing can be caused by the display, the computer rendering the image or by the content being rendered. The author has no control of the first two. They can be addressed by the design and speed of the display and computer. The intent of this criterion is to ensure that flicker that violates the flash thresholds is not caused by the content itself. For example, the content could contain a video clip or animated image of a series of strobe flashes, or close-ups of rapid-fire explosions.

This Success Criterion replaces a much more restrictive criterion in WCAG 1.0 that did not allow any flashing (even of a single pixel) within a broad frequency range (3 to 50 Hz). This Success Criterion is based on existing specifications in use in the UK and by others for television broadcast and has been adapted for computer display viewing. The 1024 x 768 screen is used as the reference screen resolution for the evaluation. The 341 x 256 pixel block represents a 10 degree viewport at a typical viewing distance. (The 10 degree field is taken from the original specifications and represents the central vision portion of the eye, where people are most susceptible to photo stimuli.)

The combined area of flashes occurring concurrently and contiguously means the total area that is actually flashing at the same time. It is calculated by adding up the contiguous area that is flashing simultaneously within any 10 degree angle of view.

Note: In some cases, what we refer to as "blinking" and what we refer to as "flashing" may overlap slightly. We are using different terms for the two because "blinking" causes a distraction problem which you can allow for a short time as long as it stops (or can be stopped) whereas "flashing" is a seizure trigger and cannot be allowed or it will cause a seizure. The seizure would occur faster than most users could turn it off. "Blink" therefore refers to slow repeating changes that would distract. "Flash" refers to changes that could cause a seizure if they were bright enough or persisted long enough. Blinking usually doesn't occur at speeds of 3 per second or more so blink and flash do not overlap. However, blinking can occur faster than 3 per second so there could be an overlap. See
Understanding Succes Criterion 2.2.2 for more information on blink.

Specific Benefits of Success Criterion 2.3.1:

Individuals who have seizures when viewing flashing material will be able to view all of the material on a site without having a seizure and without having to miss the full experience of the content by being limited to text alternatives. This includes people with photosensitive epilepsy as well as other photosensitive seizure disorders.

Examples of Success Criterion 2.3.1

A Web site has video of muzzle flash of machine gun fire, but limits the size of the flashing image to a small portion of the screen below the flash threshold size.

A movie with a scene involving very bright lightning flashes is edited so that the lightning only flashes three times in any one second period.

Techniques and Failures for Success Criterion 2.3.1 - Three Flashes or Below Threshold

Each numbered item in this section represents a technique or combination of techniques that the WCAG Working Group deems sufficient for meeting this Success Criterion. The techniques listed only satisfy the Success Criterion if all of the WCAG 2.0 conformance requirements have been met.

Sufficient Techniques

Instructions: Select the situation below that matches your content. Each situation includes techniques or combinations of techniques that are known and documented to be sufficient for that situation.

Additional Techniques (Advisory) for 2.3.1

Although not required for conformance, the following additional techniques should be considered in order to make content more accessible. Not all techniques can be used or would be effective in all situations.

Reducing contrast for any flashing content (future link)

Avoiding fully saturated reds for any flashing content (future link)

Reducing the number of flashes even if they do not violate thresholds (future link)

Providing a mechanism to suppress any flashing content before it begins (future link)

Slowing down live material to avoid rapid flashes (as in flashbulbs) (future link)

Freezing the image momentarily if 3 flashes within one second are detected (future link)

Dropping the contrast ratio if 3 flashes within one second are detected (future link)

Failures for SC 2.3.1

The following are common mistakes that are considered failures of Success Criterion 2.3.1 by the WCAG Working Group.

(No failures currently documented)

Key Terms

general flash and red flash thresholds

a sequence of flashes or rapidly changing image sequences where all three of the following are true:

there are more than three General Flashes and / or more than three Red Flashes within any one-second period; and

the flashing is below 50 Hz; and

the combined area of flashes occurring concurrently
occupies more than a total of .006 steradians within any 10 degree visual field on the screen (25% of any 10 degree visual field on the screen) at typical viewing distance, where:

A General Flash is defined as a pair of opposing changes in relative luminance of 10% or more of the maximum relative luminance where the relative luminance of the darker image is below 0.80; and where "a pair of opposing changes" is an increase followed by a decrease, or a decrease followed by an increase, and

A Red Flash is defined as any pair of opposing transitions involving a saturated red.

Exception: Flashing that is a fine, balanced, pattern such as white noise or an alternating checkerboard pattern with "squares" smaller than 0.1 degree on a side does not violate the thresholds.

Note 1:
For general software or Web content, using a 341 x 256 pixel rectangle anywhere on the displayed screen area when the content is viewed at 1024 x 768 pixels will provide a good estimate of a 10 degree visual field for standard screen sizes and viewing distances (e.g. 15-17 inch screen at 22-26 inches). (Higher resolutions displays showing the same rendering of the content yield smaller and safer images so it is lower resolutions that are used to define the thresholds.)

Note 2:
A transition is the change in relative luminance (or relative luminance/color for red flashing) between adjacent peaks and valleys in a plot of relative luminance (or relative luminance/color for red flashing) measurement against time. A flash consists of two opposing transitions.

Note 3:
The current working definition in the field for "pair of opposing transitions involving a saturated red" is where, for either or both states involved in each transition, R/(R+ G + B) >= 0.8, and the change in the value of (R-G-B)x320 is > 20 (negative values of (R-G-B)x320 are set to zero) for both transitions. R, G, B values range from 0-1 as specified in “relative luminance” definition. (Harding and Binnie 2002)

Note 4:
Tools are available that will carry out analysis from video screen capture.

Note 5:
No tool is necessary to evaluate for this condition if flashing is less than or equal to 3 flashes in any one second or greater than 50 Hz. Content automatically passes (see #1 and #2 above).

Note 6:
50 Hz is used to coincide with the AC line frequency in Europe and other countries. However almost half of the population is susceptible to 50 Hz flashing whereas only 15 % are susceptible to 60 Hz. 75 Hz or higher is recommended where possible.

Web page

a non-embedded resource
obtained from a single URI using HTTP plus any other resources that are used in the rendering or intended to be rendered together with it by a user agent

Note 1:
Although any "other resources" would be rendered together with the primary resource, they would not necessarily be rendered simultaneously with each other.

Note 2:
For the purposes of conformance with these guidelines, a resource must be "non-embedded" within the scope of conformance to be considered a Web page.

Example 1:
A Web resource including all embedded images and media.

Example 2:
A Web mail program built using Asynchronous JavaScript and XML (AJAX). The program lives entirely at http://example.com/mail, but includes an inbox, a contacts area and a calendar. Links or buttons are provided that cause the inbox, contacts, or calendar to display, but do not change the URL of the page as a whole.

Example 3:
A customizable portal site, where users can choose content to display from a set of different content modules.

Example 4:
When you enter "http://shopping.example.com/" in your browser, you enter a movie-like interactive shopping environment where you visually move about a store dragging products off of the shelves around you and into a visual shopping cart in front of you. Clicking on a product causes it to be demonstrated with a specification sheet floating alongside.